Long Tree-Ring Chronologies for the Eastern Mediterranean

自1974年以来，Kuniholm博士一直致力于设计南欧和近东的树木年表序列。迄今为止，他已经构建了一个跨度约3000年的树木年轮系列，涵盖了土耳其、希腊、意大利和东南欧邻近地区的大部分地区。在国家科学基金会的部分支持下，他将继续这项工作。在三个野外季节的过程中，他将与他的同事一起访问该地区的许多地点，收集旧木材。库尼霍姆的康奈尔实验室将对这些数据进行分析，并将其纳入主年表。这项为期三年的努力的目标是：1。以填补在年表和2中仍然存在的空白。扩大它的地理范围。由于树木年轮的宽度是由温度和降水等环境因素决定的，因此一棵树内的年轮每年都在变化。通过从活的标本回溯到建筑物的横梁，再到古代被掩埋的木头，有可能构建一个年表，其中可以指定一个绝对的日期。有了这样一个主年表，就有可能找到年龄未知的木材，然后确定它在序列中的位置，如果有的话。这一事实在考古学上具有重要意义，因为树木年轮分析提供了已知的最精确的年代测定技术。例如，使用壁炉里的木炭来达到这个目的是可能的。考古学家对事件的时间定位越精确、越有信心，他们能回答的潜在问题范围就越广。树木年轮测年最早是在美国西南部进行的，它彻底改变了那里的考古学。库尼霍姆博士耐心地在世界上另一个重要的考古地区建立了一个年表，迄今为止他的成果令人印象深刻。这项研究不仅对考古学家很重要，而且对古生态学家、气候学家和其他使用来自过去数据的人也很重要。树木年轮年表不仅为我们了解过去的人类行为提供了基础，而且还有助于阐明人类行为对气候的影响等问题。

Since 1974 Dr. Kuniholm has worked to devise a dendrochronological sequence for Southern Europe and the Near East. To date, he has constructed a tree ring series which extends over approximately 3,000 years and which covers major portions of Turkey, Greece, Italy and adjacent areas in Southeastern Europe. With partial support from the National Science Foundation, he will continue this work. Over the course of three field seasons, together with his colleagues, he will visit numerous sites in the region to collect old wood. Analysis at Kuniholm's Cornell laboratory will then permit their incorporation into a master chronology. The goals of this three year effort are: 1. to fill in the gaps which remain in the chronology and 2. to extend it's geographic range. Because the width of a tree ring is determined by environmental factors such as temperature and precipitation, rings within a single tree vary from year to year. By working from living specimens back through beams in buildings to ancient buried wood it is possible to construct a chronology where an absolute dates can be assigned. With such a master chronology it is then possible to take wood of unknown age and then determine where, if at all, it fits within the sequence. This fact is of great archaeological importance because tree ring analysis provides the most precise dating technique known. It is possible, for example, to use burned charcoal from hearths for this goal. The more precisely and more confidently archaeologists can place an event in time, the wider the range of potential questions which can be answered. Tree ring dating was first practiced in the U.S. Southwest and it revolutionized archaeology there. Dr. Kuniholm has worked patiently to develop a chronology in another archaeologically important part of the world and his results to date have been impressive. This research is important not only to archaeologists, but also to paleoecologists, climatologists and others who use data derived from the past. The tree ring chronology will not only provide a basis to increase our understanding of past human behavior, but also help to illumine such issues as the effect of human actions on climate.